Paving rift hangs over Aurora plan to start job

Hal Dardick, Special to the TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Aurora plans to start paving streets Friday, but an attorney for a company contesting the paving contract said that would not be legal.

The city hopes to pave portions of seven streets comprising about 3.8 lane miles, out of portions of 75 streets comprising 27.2 lane miles called for in the $4.1 million contract, said city spokesman Bill Catching.

Workers are out marking utilities in preparation for work to start, he said. Paving would end in mid-November, when asphalt plants shut down, and restart next spring, he said.

Work, which was to start last spring, was held up after the City Council awarded the contract to Aurora-based Geneva Construction Co., the second-lowest bidder, and Bolingbrook-based James D. Fiala Paving Co., the lowest bidder, filed suit.

Kane County Circuit Judge Michael Colwell in April blocked implementation of the Geneva Construction contract and last month ordered that the contract be awarded to Fiala Paving. Colwell, however, reversed his final ruling Monday after the 2nd District Appellate Court overturned a preliminary injunction in the case.

Vincent Mancini, an attorney for Fiala Paving, said Colwell did not reverse his preliminary injunction and therefore contended Geneva Construction could not start work. "I don't think they can do that," he said. "I think they are violating the law."

But Aurora Corporate Counsel Patricia Supergan said the Appellate Court's ruling gives Aurora the right to implement the contract. "It's over, it's done," she said.

Mancini said Fiala Paving plans to ask the Appellate Court to reconsider its decision and, if it refuses to do that, ask it to publish the opinion so it becomes precedent.

The Appellate Court, in a 2-1 opinion, found the council appropriately exercised its "discretion" in determining Geneva Construction was the "lowest responsible bidder."

If the Appellate Court decision stands, "it's going to prevent contractors from bidding on Aurora projects," Mancini said. "While that might be good for Geneva [Construction], it's horrible for the citizens, because you lose competition."